FC Barcelona will be travelling to Milan to face AC Milan in the first leg of Champions League pre-quarter of this season. The match will be held on Wednesday and the squad which will travel to Milan has already been announced. The notable absentees are Adriano and Villa, both recovering from their recent injuries and illness. The full squad list is Valdés, Pinto, Oier, Alves, Piqué, Fàbregas, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Alexis, Messi, Thiago, Mascherano, Bartra, Sergio, Pedro, Jordi Alba, Montoya, Song and Tello. The good news is that Xavi has been given the all clear from the medical staff and may even start the match at San Siro stadium. Barca faced AC Milan four times last season, winning two and drawing the other two. Compared to last season, this Milan side is a well depleted force - with Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva and Nesta being notable absentees. The widely held consensus among football pundits is that we may find it much easier this time with our visit to Milan.
AC Milan had a disastrous start to the season, but they have turned that in the recent matches. They are currently sitting in 3rd position in the table. But they will be having the handicap of missing their best player - Ballotelli, when they face Barca. Mario is cup tied as he featured for Manchester City in UCL. That will make sure that Milan will start with ex-Barca player Bojan Krkic against Barca if they opt for a 4-3-3 formation. I doubt that seriously. It won't surprise me if Milan go with a ultra-defensive line-up. In that case Bojan could only start in the middle. Barca will have it's own head-ache with the selection scenario. The first question will be to see whether Xavi starts or not. I have a feeling that Xavi will start from teh bench,e especially with Clasico clashes coming next week. That should see a midfield of Cesc, Busquets and Iniesta playing together. The other question is whether to give Sanchez a start. He was pathetic last week and it would be wise not to start with him away from home. I would go with Tello, Messi and Pedro in the front three. There may not be much topic of discussion regarding the defense and goal keeper. We should see Valdes at goal and a defensive line-up of Alves, Pique, Puyol and Alba. This should be an intriguing match but we should see this through easily. We have the quality and the form to do it, so I will go for a 2-1 victory for us.
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